The EU energy watchdog urged a Bosnian regional parliament on Thursday (27 September) not to approve a government guarantee for a China Exim Bank loan that is designed to help power utility EPBiH add a new unit at its Tuzla coal-fired power plant.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a rally in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to drum up support among the Turkish diaspora. Three days after the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Balkans confirm their strategic position.

Joining the EU means meeting all of its rules and criteria, including energy legislation. But bloc-hopeful Kosovo, just like its other Balkan neighbours, is struggling to make any headway there, writes Philippe Charlez.

The EU is still failing to address the issue of state capture in the Balkans and, by choosing stability over democracy in the region, has been undermining its own credibility and values. But now it must take strong actions in view of the 2025 admission perspective, writes Shpend Ahmeti.

Looking at 14 years of the EU's attempts to determine once and for all what to do with the Balkans (since the first EU-Balkan Summit in Thessaloniki in 2003), one cannot help wondering whether wholehearted commitment on both sides might have been lacking all along.

Citizens of the Balkan region are highly sceptical that their countries will be joining the EU anytime soon, despite shows of support for European integration, while a quarter do not believe their country will ever join the EU, the Balkan Barometer 2017 survey has shown.

The cynicism of was undeniable. Just as the Commission announced it was taking the second step in an infringement procedure against Poland over the reform of its justice system, legal experts associated with the PiS government announced that the country could still demand reparations from Germany for its occupation during World War Two.

The Balkans have become embroiled in a trade war over agricultural health checks after Croatia raised import fees on some farm products by around 220%, triggering countermeasures by Serbia and threats from others.

Russia believes Slovakia is the only Visegrad country that may leave NATO, which is why its propaganda apparatus is targeting it. EURACTIV Slovakia partner Dennik N reports on Moscow’s information war in the region.

Amnesty International has accused the EU of indirectly supporting attacks on refugees by Libyan security forces because of the bloc's cooperation with the country's authorities. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The measures to address the migration crisis introduced by individual member states or groups of states have been more effective than the Commission’s action, a Hungarian high official said yesterday (13 June).

Critics have denounced Germany's intention to put Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia on a list of safe countries of origin in an attempt to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming from those countries. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Gas demand in Europe will most likely continue to decline. This is the reason why the competition for additional gas import infrastructure is so fierce and politicised - there is simply no need for more, Julian Popov told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.

Kosovo has illegally arrested one third of the parliamentary opposition. On Thursday (21 January) the European Parliament will discuss a draft resolution on Kosovo, which does not even mention the arrests, writes Andrea Lorenzo Capussela.

As foreign policy experts list their problems for 2016, the Balkans never gets a mention. That’s strange, as the region is the microcosm of all the differing conflicts in Europe, and even further afield, Denis MacShane writes.

The European Union revived Turkey's membership bid on Monday (14 Dcember) and opened accession talks with Serbia, showing how a migration crisis and Russia's presence in the Balkans has prompted the EU to rethink plans to stop expanding.